If there’s one thing every mine site superintendent knows about haul truck tires, it’s this: “The more they turn, the more we earn.”
This notion is important because the cost of replacing haul road tires is one of the major expenditures in any mining operation.
With DUST-A-SIDE HINCOL’S haul road management services, it all comes down to where the rubber meets the road.
A good running surface is key to the life of haul truck tires
To extend the life of haul truck tires, it all starts with the running surface – the better the quality, the longer the tire lifespan.
At DUST-A-SIDE HINCOL, we’ve proven that a well bonded wearing course, sealed with bitumen, not only results in reduced loss of fines and less water ingress, but also leads to a less aggressive haul road surface from a tire perspective.
The International Roughness Index (IRI) is a worldwide standard for measuring road smoothness longitudinally (i.e. in direction of driving). The index measures haul road roughness in wheel path in terms of the number of metres per kilometre that a laser, mounted in a specialised vehicle jumps as it is driven along a road. The lower the IRI number at a given speed, the smoother the ride.
And as you can see from the following International Roughness Index (IRI) analysis, a DUST-A-SIDE established haul road resulted in a 37% reduction in IRI after just two months.
This improved haul truck tires life significantly, and it is borne out by a low Roughness Defect Score (RDS).
Once again, in a study undertaken over a period of 32 weeks, a haul road treated with DASProduct proved to have a defect score around one-third of the average RDS on other comparable non-treated haul roads.
Less water on haul roads also improves tire life
With a stabilised and sealed wearing course as well as an on-going maintenance program, DUST-A-SIDE managed haul roads have a notably reduced need for water.
This is a vitally important point to remember because wet haul roads increase wheel slip, decrease traction and increase the cutting action of rocks – wet rubber is far softer than dry rubber and cuts 10 times more easily.
It has been proven that when water trucks are unavailable, the tire rock damage is invariably lower.
Therefore, a reduction in water on haul roads will:
- Decrease tire wear rates
- Reduce the incidence of rock cuts
- Increase overall tire life
Reduced temperature – another factor affecting haul truck tire wear and tear
It’s a scientific fact that the rougher a running surface is, the hotter haul truck tires will run.
Tonne kilometre per hour (TKPH) measures the workload of a tire, based on the weight and speed that the tire can handle without overheating and causing it to prematurely deteriorate.
Theoretically, when a tire is operating at its TKPH rating, its internal belt temperature will be at its maximum. It is desirable that a radial tire has an internal temperature of between 100 to 105ºC.
At 110 ºC, rubber reversion starts to occur and the tire will be subjected to irreversible damage.
With this in mind, the tire TKPH rating must always be greater than site operating TKPH; otherwise the strength of rubber is dramatically reduced.
How to improve haul truck tire performance, from the ground up
Rather than try to implement a “quick fix” on an existing haul road, it’s always best to design and build haul roads right the first time to improve tire performance.
That way, everything can be taken into consideration, including:
- Haul road sub-base
- Camber
- Superelevation
As you can see from the below example comprising a fleet of 48 Komatsu 930E haul trucks, DUST-A-SIDE demonstrated a 15.5% improvement in tire life over a 24-month period.
These results were on top of these extraordinary figures:
- Water savings of over 90%
- Fuel savings of over 5%
- Reduction in water cart fleet by up to 75%
- Grading reduced by up to 70%
- Electric motor life increased by up to 2.5 times
Addition potential gains included:
- Strut and suspension life increased
- Improved braking and better brake life
- Road maintenance and need to rebuild reduced
- Less operator fatigue and injury
- 4WD not required
- Waterproof layer and better drainage allowing more work during the wet and quicker restart after wet weather
- Increased life of equipment parts and consumables due to less dust
- Visual environmental improvement
What to learn more about DUST-A-SIDE HINCOL’S haul road management services?
For more information and advice about extending the life of haul truck tires with our haul road management services, please contact the expert team of engineers at DUST-A-SIDE HINCOL on +91-22-23023250. Or click here to arrange a no obligation technical consultation and report today.
